1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image communication terminal, and more particularly, to an image signal transmitting/receiving apparatus and method for selectively performing transmission and display of a main image signal.
2. Description of the Background Art
Thanks to its handy portability and convenience in use, a mobile communication terminal is widely used. With its functions for phone book registration, memorandum and a days schedule, the mobile communication terminal is being developed as a means for managing personal information.
FIG. 1 illustrates an image signal transmitting and receiving apparatus having an image communication terminal (referred to as ‘terminal’, hereinafter) in accordance with a conventional art.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional image signal transmitting/receiving apparatus includes an image input unit 101 for inputting a main image signal, an encoder 102 for encoding the main image signal inputted through the image input unit 101, an image signal processor 103 for processing the encoded main image signal and transmitting it to a terminal of a receiving party, and processing the main image signal received from the terminal of the receiving party, a decoder 104 for decoding the main image signal received through the image signal processor 103, and an image signal display unit 105 for displaying the decoded main image signal on an LCD.
The operation of the conventional image signal transmitting and receiving apparatus constructed as described above will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A main image signal inputted through the image signal input unit 101 is encoded by the encoder 102 and then inputted to the image signal processor 103. The image signal processor 103 processes the encoded main image signal and transmits it to the terminal of the receiving party, and processes the main image signal received from the terminal of the receiving party and outputs it to the decoder 104. The decoder 104 decodes the main image signal outputted from the image signal processor 103 and outputs it to the image signal display unit 105, so that the received main image signal is displayed on the LCD of the terminal.
While making an image communication by using the terminal, the user may not want to transmit the main image (his or her own image) to the other party, or display the image transmitted from the other party. At this time, the conventional terminal has shortcomings that the user should discontinue the telephone call in order to cut the main image to be transmitted or not to display the received image.